1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to user interfaces. More specifically, the present invention relates to a graphical user interface that displays pedigree charts in a clear and flexible manner.
2. The Prior State of the Art xe2x80x9cGenealogy,xe2x80x9d the study of family histories, has taken on widespread popularity as individuals are increasingly desirous to learn more about family histories, particularly their own family histories.
Genealogy essentially involves gathering data regarding individuals in a common family. Typical gathered data might include the date and place of birth and death and other key events in the individual""s life such as a marriage. The precise type of data gathered may differ according to the particular interests of the researcher.
Genealogy also involves the gathering of information regarding relationships between individuals in the common family. One common way of representing the relationships between many individuals is in the form of a tree called a pedigree chart. FIG. 9 shows an example of such a pedigree chart.
In FIG. 9, each individual is represented by a point or xe2x80x9cnodexe2x80x9d in the tree. For example, the bottom-most individual is the latest-born individual in the tree and is represented by point 0. This individual is shown as the only individual in the first generation. xe2x80x9cFirstxe2x80x9d generation means the latest generation of individuals.
The individual 0 has a father and a mother. The father is represented by a point 00 and the mother is represented by a point 01. A line 00xe2x80x2 connects the individual 0 to the father 00 thereby representing the child-parent relationship between the individual 0 and the father 00. Similarly, a line 01xe2x80x2 connects the individual 0 to the mother 01 thereby representing the child-parent relationship between the individual 0 and the mother 01. The father 00 and the mother 01 are in the second generation working backwards from the first generation. Thus, lines 00xe2x80x2 and 01xe2x80x2 represent the link between the first and second generations.
The tree also includes the father""s father 000, the father""s mother 001, the mother""s father 010, and the mother""s mother 011 who represent the third generation in the tree. A line 000xe2x80x2 connects the father 00 to the father""s father 000; a line 001xe2x80x2 connects the father 00 to the father""s mother 001; a line 010xe2x80x2 connects the mother 01 to the mother""s father 010; and a line 011xe2x80x2 connects the mother 01 to the mother""s mother 011. Thus, lines 000xe2x80x2, 001xe2x80x2, 010xe2x80x2, and 011xe2x80x2 represent relationships between the second generation and the third generation working backwards from the first generation.
Though FIG. 9 shows only three generations in a family, the tree may be extended further back for any number of generations. A key limiting factor in extending the tree back forever is the tendency for it to become more difficult to gather data on an individual the earlier that individual appears in the pedigree chart. By viewing a pedigree chart such as the one shown in FIG. 9, a researcher can get a good clear idea of the relationships in a given family.
Pedigree charts may be drafted on paper. However, there are currently a number of software applications which maintain and display a pedigree chart. Conventional software packages are useful in that they allow for the basic display of a pedigree chart. Also, these conventional software applications allow the user to enter and maintain genealogical information and notes regarding the individuals in the pedigree chart.
While these pedigree charts offer some utility, it would be represent an advancement in the art to provide a flexible user interface which displays a flexible amount of information regarding each individual in the pedigree chart. Furthermore, it would represent an advancement in the art to visually emphasize individuals and/or relationships in the pedigree chart to provide the user with a convenience visual reference that emphasizes individuals and/or relationships having certain characteristics.
The foregoing problems with the prior art are overcome by the present invention which relates to methods and systems for displaying a pedigree chart on a display device of a computer system. The computer system is capable of executing a user interface generated by an application program with the aid of an operating system.
The pedigree chart allows for the adjusting of the resolution of the pedigree chart on the display. For example, the information resolution of the pedigree chart may be adjusted to allow for more or less text information to be displayed for each individual in the pedigree chart. For example, a low information resolution might display no text information for any of the individuals while a high information resolution might display all available text information for each individual. Also, the xe2x80x9cfont resolutionxe2x80x9d may be adjusted to allow for larger or smaller font size for the text information that describes the individual. A xe2x80x9csize resolutionxe2x80x9d may be adjusted to zoom in or zoom out on the pedigree chart.
Each of these resolution adjustments also may have an effect on the number of generations of the pedigree chart that can be displayed within a given view. For example, the pedigree chart may show two, three, five, ten, twenty or any other number of generations depending on how the resolution of the pedigree chart is set.
The ability to view the pedigree chart with high resolution allows the user to view the entire pedigree chart. Thus, the user can get a much better idea of the structure of the pedigree chart even if the pedigree chart is quite complex containing many generations of individuals. The ability to view the pedigree chart with lower resolution allows the user to zoom in on areas of the pedigree chart that are of interest. Thus, the ability to adjust the resolution allows the user to be able to traverse through the pedigree chart with ease while being able to recognize the entire structure of the pedigree chart.
There may also be various other visual emphasizing information provided in the pedigree chart. For example, an individual that marks the end of a genealogical line may be represented by a special visual element such as a darkened or different-colored box compared to individuals that are not at the end of a genealogical line.
Also, special relationships may be distinguished by different colored lines connecting the individuals in the relationship. For example, a yellow or green line may indicate that a husband and wife have been married, or that they were married under a given set of circumstances.
Other visually emphasizing feature might include the ability to distinguish the chronological sibling position of an individual within a family, common ancestors, individuals for whom there is more information in another database, individuals for whom there is conflicting information in another database, ancestral lines between a given ancestor and his/her descendant, the descendants of a given individual, and so forth.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.